Fox Animation Studios
Fox Animation Studios was an American traditional 2D hand-drawn cel-animated/CGI production company located in Phoenix, Arizona, and was the former in-house feature animation subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Animation, a division of 20th Century Fox (which is now part of The Walt Disney Company). After six years of operation, the studio was shut down on June 26, 2000, ten days after the release of its final film, Titan A.E., and was replaced by Fox's Blue Sky Studios division. History Founding After the financially unsuccessful release of Sullivan Bluth Studios' film Thumbelina in 1994, animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman were hired by Bill Mechanic, then-chairman of 20th Century Fox, to be the creative heads of the animation studio. Mechanic and John Matoian, President of Fox Family Films, also brought in Stephen Brain (Executive VP at Silver Pictures) as Senior VP/General Manager to oversee the startup of the studio and run day-to-day operations of the division. About the studio The company was designed to compete with Walt Disney Feature Animation, which had phenomenal success during the late 1980s and early 1990s with the releases of films such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and The Lion King (1994). Disney veterans Bluth and Goldman came in 1994 to Fox from Sullivan Bluth Studios, which had produced An American Tail, The Land Before Time and both All Dogs Go To Heaven and Rock-a-Doodle, among other films. Before Bluth came to Fox, the studio distributed four animated features during the 1990s which were produced by outside studios – FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Once Upon a Forest, Pets World and The Pagemaster, the last two of which were both commercial and critical failures. Even before, Fox distributed two Ralph Bakshi features, Wizards and Fire and Ice, as well as Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure by Richard Williams. Also, Fox distributed Asterix Conquers America in France and United Kingdom. Productions Fox Animation Studios did not achieve the same level of success as Disney's animated crop. Only one of its two theatrical releases, Anastasia (1997), found critical and box-office success. Its other theatrical release Titan A.E. (2000) got mixed reviews and was a costly flop, losing $100 million for 20th Century Fox. Almost a year before Titan A.E., Fox laid off 300 of the 380 people who worked at the Phoenix studio in order to "make films more efficiently." Shutdown On June 26, 2000, the studio was shut down. Their last film set to be made would have been RandomToons: The First Cartoony Movie Ever! ''(which it was done by 20th Century Fox Animation) and an adaptation of Wayne Barlowe's illustrated novel ''Barlowe's Inferno, and it was set to be done with near complete CGI. Fox Animation Studios' only other productions were the PBS television series Adventures from the Book of Virtues, RandomToons animated television series The New RandomToons Show, additional final line animation for RandomToons: The First Cartoony Movie Ever!, a holiday television film It's a RandomToons Christmas! and the direct-to-video prequel to Anastasia, Bartok the Magnificent, along with sub-contract work for DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt. Out of all the sequels and spinoffs based on existing Don Bluth properties, Bartok was the only of which to actually have Bluth and Goldman as directors. As of 2018, the former headquarters for the studio sits unused and abandoned. Productions * RandomToons shorts (1994–1997) * Adventures from the Book of Virtues (TV series) (1996–2000) (PBS) * The New RandomToons Show ''(TV series) (1997–2007) (season 1–3) (Fox) * ''Anastasia (1997) * It's a RandomToons Christmas! (1998) (Fox) * The Prince of Egypt (1998) (additional final line animation) * Bartok the Magnificent (1999) * Titan A.E. (2000) * ''RandomToons: The First Cartoony Movie Ever! ''(2001) (additional final line animation) See also * Kenny & Kella Young Productions * 20th Century Fox Animation Category:Company